Fifty West Brewing Co. in Cincinnati has announced a jam-packed February schedule, which includes the brewpub releasing limited edition bottles.

The brewery will launch a new 750ml bottle series called Remus' Revenge on Feb. 11 and expects to issue specialty bottled beers every two months. There will be only 100 to 200 bottles available each time.

-- The Columbus Dispatch reports on Hopslam-gate -- as some are calling it. A Clintonville beer store has been accused of buying up all the Hopslam at a Giant Eagle and attempting to resell it, which the owner denies. To read the full story, click here.

AleFest Columbus — a beer-tasting event held each year in early February at the Aladdin Shrine Center — has been postponed indefinitely.

Organizer Joe Waizmann confirmed that he’s been so busy launching Warped Wing Brewing Co., a new 30-barrel production brewery and tasting room in Dayton, that he hasn’t been able to focus on what would be the ninth annual AleFest Columbus. That event originally had been slated to take place Saturday (Feb. 1).

Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron announced today (Jan. 29) that it is launching BORIS Van Wink Wednesdays at its Tasting Room. The brewery will tap a keg of barrel-aged BORIS Van Wink at 6 tonight.

"We will be doing this on Wednesdays through February to give you frequent beer shoppers even more of a reason to come in and visit us at The Tasting Room," owner and brewer Fred Karm said in an email.

It's a big upcoming weekend for beer festivals in Ohio, with events taking place in Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati.

The Cleveland Winter Beerfest is Friday and Saturday (Jan. 31 and Feb. 1) at the Cleveland Convention Center downtown. The festival will feature about 90 breweries and more than 300 beers. For more details, click here.

-- Columbus Business First reports on Columbus Brewing Co. looking to expand, which could result in them relocating. “This expansion is a Band-Aid before what will be a larger expansion later in the year,” Brewmaster Eric Bean told the publication. “We’re constantly up against the wall and haven’t always been able to do what we want to do.” To read the full story, click here.

Deschutes Brewery, the fifth-largest craft brewer in the U.S., made its official Ohio debut last week, but special events promoting the brand are continuing through this week.

“Ohio is a huge state for us,” brand ambassador Lauranne “Lou” Crooks said Monday during a tasting at Acme Fresh Market in Akron. “It’s the biggest launch we’ve ever done. There’s over 12 of us here from Oregon who flew out for this launch."

Chicago comedian Owen Weber isn't a fan of big national beer brands or the innovations they claim enhance the beer drinking experience. So Weber and his friends have created a faux brand and website, Milweiser, and released a couple of entertaining beer commercials online just in time for Super Bowl weekend.

"My colleagues and I (also lovers of good beer) made a parody campaign based on those gimmicky bottles (like the vortex bottle and color-changing can) that big beer companies use to sell their terrible, cheap beer," he said in an email. "It's called The Milweiser Backdoor bottle. Less taste, more filling."

Beer signs can be community landmarks. Remember the excitement when the Genesee Beer sign in downtown Auburn, N.Y., was put up again and relit after 40 years? Or the fuss when the "R" sign was put back atop the old Rainer Brewery in Seattle?

Well, maybe you don't. But trust me, it was a big deal for those communities.

Americans drop an average of $1,270 a year on beer, according to a new online survey conducted by Survey Analytics. The Seattle company asked people to share their feelings about beer and buying habits.

That total amounts to about 115 six-packs at $10.99 each -- or 211 pints at $6 a piece.

-- The Youngstown Vindicator urges state lawmakers to pause before boosting the legal limit of alcohol in beer to 21 percent. "... State legislators have a responsibility to fully explore all issues relating to this controversial topic with major societal ramifications," the newspaper says. To read the full editorial, click here.

I can't even remember how the topic came up. But the guy sitting next to me at the Hairless Hare Brewery in Vandalia made a startling comment.

He had brought a growler into a local establishment and tried to get it filled. The business refused. The growler had been purchased elsewhere and he was told that he had to buy one of its growlers. State law, the business said. It could fill only its growlers.

-- The website Drink Up Columbus has announced the winners of its second annual Best of Drink Up Columbus reader survey. The winner of the best brewery in Central Ohio goes to ... drumroll please ... Columbus Brewing, with Barley's Ale House and Seventh Son coming in second and third, respectively. Seventh Son also was voted best new brewery and Columbus Bodhi was selected as the best beer. To check out all the results, click here.

West Sixth of Lexington, Ky., will take over the taps at the Belgian eatery in Cincinnati, offering its IPA, Amber, Pay it Forward Cocoa Porter and Transylvania Tripel, a Belgian-style beer that has never been released in Cincinnati before.

Mother Nature apparently forget to send the memo to Hoppin' Frog Brewery that it's danged cold outside. With temperatures expected around the single digits in northern Ohio, the Akron brewery is breaking out summer beers at its taproom.

Taft's Ale House, a new brewpub under construction in Cincinnati's Over the Rhine neighborhood, is planning to open in late fall or early winter this year, partner and brewer Kevin Moreland said Tuesday (Jan. 21).

Moreland and his partners issued a news release this week providing some details on the project. He said Taft's will issue renderings and photos of the effort in early March.

-- WKYC-TV in Cleveland chats with Great Lakes Brewing head brewer Luke Purcell about the release of Barrel Aged Blackout Stout. Great Lakes held a party Monday to celebrate the release. To watch the report, click here.

Warped Wing Brewing Co. has verticality. At least that’s what President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Waizmann says about the 35-foot high ceiling inside the new Dayton brewery, which opened last weekend in a two-story, red brick building downtown.

Waizmann, who's widely known for organizing the AleFest beer tasting events, might as well have used the word to describe the brand itself. Warped Wing instantly became the largest production brewery in the area and its ceiling is unknown -- thanks in part to talented brewmaster John Haggerty, who once headed the brewing operations for the well-respected New Holland Brewing in Holland, Mich.

-- The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports on Anheuser-Busch InBev's strategy when it comes to Super Bowl ads this year. The company is buying 3 1/2 minutes of advertising this year -- 30 seconds less than last year -- and the ads will feature Clydesdales, the newspaper says. To read the full story, click here.

Great Lakes Brewing Co. rules Ohio when it comes to Facebook and Twitter. The blog Queen City Fresh analyzed Facebook likes and Twitter followers for Ohio-based craft breweries and determined the Cleveland brewery is well ahead of others in the state.

Great Lakes, the oldest craft brewery in Ohio, had more than 91,000 Facebook likes. Willoughby Brewing, a brewpub in Willoughby, was second with 11,571. Great Lakes also had 30,956 Twitter followers. Hoppin' Frog Brewery in Akron was second with more than 17,000.

The craft brewing industry continues to grow at an astronomical rate in the U.S. The Brewers Association, the Colorado-based trade group, reports that nearly 400 new breweries opened nationwide last year and there are now 2,722 operating in the country.

That's the highest number since the 1870s, Brewers Association economist Bart Watson wrote in a blog post. The most ever recorded was 3,286 in 1870.

BeerAdvocate magazine offers plenty of love for Ohio in the current edition, with Yellow Springs Brewery and the Cincinnati craft beer scene being highlighted.

Yellow Springs, which won a silver medal at the Great American Beer Festival last year, is featured in a story focusing on new breweries to watch nationwide. The "Class of 2013" article honors 27 breweries.

Mt. Carmel Brewing Co. tapped into 250-year-old sugar maple trees to produce its latest brew, a collaboration with the Cincinnati Nature Center. Maple Doppelbock -- a bigger beer at 8 percent alcohol by volume -- will be released next month at a special event called Maple on Tap at the center.

Portside Distillery in Cleveland will release its first canned beer in early February with the help of Buckeye Canning Systems. The first beer -- yes, there will be others -- will be Man O' War, an imperial India pale ale with a hefty 9.6 percent alcohol by volume.

Deschutes Brewery officially starts distributing in Ohio on Jan. 24 and the craft brewer from Bend, Ore., has arranged a million special events -- well, it seems like a million -- across the state to celebrate.

If you really can't wait to get a taste, Deschutes is already available at the Winking Lizard Tavern chain (I had a Black Butte Porter on Saturday at the Copley Township location while hanging with Cleveland Plain Dealer beer writer Marc Bona, who sampled a Mirror Pond Pale Ale). It also will be at this weekend's Columbus Winter Beerfest.

-- USA Today reports on the popularity of brewpubs and the top of the story includes a nod to the Elevator Brewery and Draught Haus in Columbus. Joe Tucker of Ratebeer.com also highlights Hoppin' Frog in Akron and Great Lakes Brewing in Cleveland as two of his favorites in the country. To read the full story, click here.

The third annual Dayton Brew Ha-Ha will put a spin on the usual beer festival. This year, it's Ohio vs. Michigan.

Organizers are gathering Ohio and Michigan beers and will ask those in attendance to vote for their favorites. In the end, the Brew Ha-Ha, set for Jan. 25 at the Montessori School of Dayton, will declare an Ohio winner, a Michigan winner and a winning state.

Fifty West Brewing Co. in Cincinnati celebrated its 100th batch by making a big Belgian-style tripel. Our Mom's Advice, which is 8.2 percent alcohol by volume, is now available at the brewery. The name is a play on the brewery's 50th batch, called Ardad's Advice.

"Not gonna lie we're pretty excited, seems like yesterday, we were sitting there looking at our first batch nervous and excited whether other people were gonna like it as much as we did," co-owner Bobby Slattery said in an email.

The Chattanooga Times Free Press reports that CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries -- which operates the Gordon Biersch and Rock Bottom breweries in Ohio -- has a new chief executive officer.

Srinivas Kumar, the former head of Pearle Vision, will take over the company from interim CEO Dick Rivera, the newspaper says. CraftWorks operates 195 restaurants, breweries and entertainment venues across the U.S., and employs more than 12,000 workers. To read the full story, click here.

Millersburg Brewing Co. in Millersburg will release two new beers Tuesday. (Jan. 14) Both feature names with a local flavor.

Knights Vienna Lager, made with German Noble hops and Vienna malt, is 5.5 percent alcohol by volume and has 20 IBUs. "Our vienna lager is a European amber style lager with a lightly toasted elegant malt complexity in both the aroma and initial taste," the brewery said in a news release.

-- The Daily Mail in Great Britain reports that men would sooner give up beer and pornography than go bald. "According to a recent survey by the NPD Group, 69 percent of men worry about the thinness of their hair, with most saying they would even trade beer and porn for fuller looking locks," the newspaper said. To read the full story, click here.

Nano Brew Cleveland has been named one of the 100 best bars in America for 2014 by Draft Magazine. The nanobrewery just down the street from Market Garden Brewery and Great Lakes Brewing Co. is the only Ohio bar to make the cut this year.

"After six years of making this annual list, we had to rethink the definition of a top-notch beer bar," the magazine says. "New ones are opening every second, and 'good beer bar' no longer equals a zillion taps; there's just more to it now. We needed to walk out of these places saying, 'Now there's a bar that really, really cares about your experience with beer.' "

Samuel Adams says it's going West Coast. The brewer is releasing Rebel IPA, a West Coast-style IPA that was first created in the brewery's 10-gallon nano system in Boston.

"The West Coast hops that we brew Rebel IPA with are some of my personal favorites -- Cascade, Simcoe, Centennial, Chinook and Amarillo -- and impart unique flavors and aromas," brewer Seth Adams said in a news release. (Yes, that's his last name.) "With this brew, we dug deep into our rebellious roots passed down from our namesake and Jim Koch -- a rebel in the craft beer movement -- to create an IPA that isn't based solely on bitterness level, like many other West Coast-style IPAs, but pays homage to the aromatics and flavors of these West Coast hop varieties."

Arnold's Bar & Grill is tossing its fifth annual Local, Local, Local party on Jan. 25 and Cincinnati-made beer will be in the spotlight.

The owners or head brewers from Bad Tom, Blank Slate, Cellar Dweller, Christian Moerlein, 50 West, Listermann/Triple Digit, MadTree, Mt. Carmel, Rhinegeist, Rivertown and Wiedemann will be at the Cincinnati bar to talk about their beers and hand out free schwag. Local craft beers will be sold for $3.50 a pint.

Ace Metrix has named Samuel Adams as the most effective beer brand of the year for 2013. The California-based company studies television ads in a variety of industries to determine a brand's effectiveness.

"Samuel Adams is tops in beer, marking the second year in a row that we’ve seen a craft brewer at the top of the list," Ace Metrix wrote. "Sam Adams focuses on the quality of their product and puts a personal touch on the ads which tend to feature company employees. Their vast fan base gets excited for seasonal offerings and, despite being in a category that isn’t necessarily mass appeal, they managed an impressive general population average score of 512."

The GrowlerStop, a craft beer filling station in the Newtown Shell Gas Station in Cincinnati, is adding eight beer taps because of demand. The business -- considered the first of its kind in Ohio -- opened in October with 10 taps.

The GrowlerStop also is considering expanding to other locations in the city.

Heineken reigns supreme in the beer world -- at least its website does. Zephyr Adventures and the Beer Bloggers Conference ranked Heineken as the world's most influential beer website based on visitors, incoming links and social media presence.

The Ohio Beer Festivals webpage has been updated. As usual, plenty of events are not on the calendar. Why? Well, some folks didn't respond to my requests and others haven't picked a date yet.

For example, will there be another World Beer Festival in Cleveland this year? The organizer, All About Beer magazine, hasn't responded to that question. Also, there will be another Blues & Brews festival in Akron, but organizer John Najeway of Thirsty Dog Brewing says they're still selecting a date.

Four String Brewing Co., a production brewery and tasting room in Columbus, will soon join the growing list of Ohio brewers to can its beer. The brewery will release Brass Knuckle American Pale Ale in 12-ounce cans within the next 90 days. The beer will be available in six-packs at local retailers.

-- The Associated Press reports that a Montana craft brewery is suing Anheuser-Busch InBev, alleging that popular YouTube videos for Bud Light violate its trademarked phrase "Hold my beer and watch this." Big Sky Brewing filed the suit in Missoula, Mont., and says it has used the slogan since at least 2004. To read the full story, click here.